Paderu, Nov 18 (UNI) The Maoists suffered a major blow on Tuesday as their Most wanted top leader Madvi Hidma alias Santhosh was among the six extremists killed in a fierce encounter at Maredumilli village in a dense forest area of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh.
Hidma was carrying a cash reward of rupees one crore on his head and earned notoriety for committing major offences including killing of police personnel and political leaders. Hidma, who also operated as the self-styled Liberation Guerilla commander, had remained elusive for the past 25 years.
AP Intelligence Additional Director General Mahesh Chandra Ladda told the media that the most wanted Maoist Hidma, his wife Madakam Rajee alias Rajakka, Chelluri Narayana alias Suresh, Tech Shankar, Malla and Deve were killed. Their bodies were shifted to the Government General Hospital in Rampachodavaram.
Hidma was the Maoists Central Committee member, while his wife Rajakka was the division committee member.
The ADG said that a large number of greyhound police personnel surrounded the area located deep inside the forest and a fierce encounter ensued with the Maoists.
ADG Mahesh Chandra Ladda said that the greyhounds and Octoposs anti–terrorist squad conducted intensive combing at the AP-Odisha border area on an intelligence tip.
The police seized two AK 47 rifles, one pistol, one revolver, one single bore gun, 1,525 electrical detonators, 150 non-electrical detonators, one electrical wire bundle, one camera flash light, 25 meters fuse wire and seven kit bags from the encounter site. The combing operation is continuing in the forest area.
Hidma orchestrated and successfully carried out 26 major offensives against the security forces. He gained expertise in using automatic weapons and explosives. He used to lead a battalion comprising over 350 trained Maoists and led attacks which caused the death of over 200 police personnel, sources said.
In 2010, Hidma-led Maoists attacked a CRPF camp and killed 76 CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh. In 2013, he led a Maoists team and attacked a CRPF camp in which 27 jawans and Congress leaders were killed in the state. In 2021, he carried out a flash attack on the security forces at Sukma-Bijapur in Chhattisgarh in which 22 CRPF jawans were killed.
Hidma was a 7th class school dropout and joined the Maoist group when he was 17 years old. He was able to speak English, Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and Gondu languages. The Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha police had been searching for him for the last one and half decades.
